Russell Simmons’ lawyer has fired back at a $10 million rape lawsuit filed against the hip-hop mogul by an anonymous woman, calling the suit “nothing more than an attempted extortion.”
Court papers filed Monday contain a fiery correspondence from Russell’s attorney to his accuser’s lawyer, stating that the complaint is “nothing more than an attempted extortion by using the most vile false allegation possible — that of child abuse.”
“It will not work,” the correspondence continues. “Your demand for $10 million is outrageous, and it reflects the greed that pervades this action.”
Simmons was sued in March by a woman who alleges that he threatened her son, then raped her.
According to the suit, the woman was chaperoning her son, at the time in elementary school, to a concert of rap and hip-hop acts associated with Simmons when the Def Jam Records co-founder approached her and invited the two backstage to meet the acts, after which Simmons invited the woman to post-party at the Clarion hotel in Los Angeles.
After dropping off her son with a babysitter, the suit says, the woman went to a nightclub, then to the hotel. The woman said Simmons asked her to accompany him to his hotel room, where he had to get something.
“She was reluctant, but Simmons insisted it was not an invitation to have sexual relations since he was dating a well-known model,” the suit reads.
Once in the room, the suit says, Simmons told the woman “I am going to f– you.” When the woman objected, according to the complaint, he responded, “I am going to f– you or I’m going to f– your son. You decide.”
After which, the suit says, “Simmons threw her on the bed and raped her.”
However, Simmons’ attorney calls the claims “both baseless and legally barred,” saying that, according to the complaint, “Mr. Simmons made a threat of child abuse regarding [redacted] child when the child was not even present at the time. That makes no sense.”
Simmons’ attorney also says that the alleged incident supposedly took place in 1988, adding, “it is simply not possible for your client to satisfy the statute of limitations requirements.”
“Simply put, your client and her story are not credible and her motivation for a payday are abundantly clear,” the correspondence reads.
Simmons, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by numerous women, has denied the accusations in a statement provided to TheWrap, saying, “I vehemently deny all the allegations made against me. They have shocked me to my core as I have never been abusive or violent in any way in my relations with women. I have submitted myself to multiple lie detector tests. I denied forced sex and sexual harassment allegations brought against me in each test; I also answered no to the question, ‘Have you ever physically forced any woman to have sexual intercourse?’ I passed all of the lie detector tests.”